


Free of this

by HecticHelios



Category: Bastille (Band), detroit become human
Genre: I am awful, I have no self control
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-05-27 00:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15013070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HecticHelios/pseuds/HecticHelios
Summary: Detroit Become Human WWCOMMS AU of some sort





	1. Chapter 1

WWCOMMS loved the androids. Most of the human workers were replaced with them, save for the most loyal and most skilled.

 

The androids were obedient, and the company adored obedience. They were more efficient than the human workers, and WWCOMMS had never had any issue with deviants.

 

Kyle was one of the few humans remaining in the company, charged with maintaining the androids and overseeing them. A few androids helped him with repairs and the like, but Kyle was the necessary human touch needed.

 

He sighed as he sat at his desk, scribbling a tablet. He was waiting for a new delivery of androids, and he was bored. CyberLife were late, much to Kyle’s annoyance.

 

The buzzer on Kyle’s desk went off and he answered.

 

‘It’s your delivery,’ came the voice from the other end. ‘Requesting access.’

 

‘Finally,’ sighed Kyle, before pressing the access and then going to meet the delivery.

 

There was only one android onboard the delivery vehicle, much to Kyle’s surprise.

 

The delivery android saw the confusion on Kyle’s face. ‘It’s a new prototype, commissioned specially for your company, sir. WC400. It’ll tell you what it can do.’ The delivery android held out a tablet towards Kyle. ‘Sign here, sir.’

 

Kyle signed and the delivery android wheeled the new prototype off the back of the vehicle. Kyle took the trolley and carted the new android inside, pleasantly surprised by how it felt somewhat lighter than the existing models.

 

Inside, Kyle stood opposite the new android. He snapped his fingers. ‘Wakey wakey, WC400.’

 

The android’s eyes flicked open. Bright blue, like the LED on its temple. Due to special connections between CyberLife and WWCOMMS, the android wore a white jumpsuit like the human workers, identical except for the blue band of light on the arm, and the company logo lit up in blue where a simple triangle would otherwise reside on civilian models.

 

Deep brown hair was slicked back on the head of the android, darker than Kyle’s. Kyle regarded the android carefully. ‘So you’re special, huh?’

 

The android remained silent.

 

‘Great. Guess you should get a name, since you’re special.’

 

Silence again.

 

‘You remind me of someone I knew once,’ Kyle mumbled. He sighed. ‘Alright. WC400, register name.’

 

The android perked up slightly.

 

‘... Dan.’

 


	2. Chapter 2

‘Tell me about what you do, Dan,’ Kyle instructed the android as he sat at his desk.

 

Dan regarded his human colleague. ‘Of course. I am WC400, a prototype android built especially for WWCOMMS. My main function is to be a news anchor, and I can receive news as live updates due to my connection to the internet. I can connect to the internet anywhere, so I can report out in the field if required.’

 

‘Will’s not gonna be happy about that...’ Kyle mumbled.

 

‘Do not worry sir. I will not be replacing any human anchors completely, merely reducing their workload. I will replace the field reporter androids, however.’

 

Kyle nodded. ‘A few things. Firstly, and most importantly, deviancy will not be tolerated. If you see any, and I mean any, sign of deviancy in an android, you bring them to me immediately. Got that?’

 

Dan logged the order and nodded.

 

‘Secondly, you do not leave this building unless you are told to do so, like if you gotta go report in the field. Last thing for now is that your jumpsuit is your uniform. You don’t change out of it while you’re h- you’re an android, you won’t change out of it.’

 

Dan logged the orders. ‘Sir, what were you going to say for that last order?’

 

‘We humans can take the jumpsuit off to go home after work. That’s it. Androids don’t leave the site so you never need to change out of them.’

 

‘Understood.’

 

Kyle checked his watch. ‘Come on. I need to introduce you to the other anchors.’

 

He led Dan up several flights of stairs. Kyle’s “office” was on the ground floor, and the broadcasting rooms were on the top, third floor. Kyle tried to not show that he was out of breath: he rarely had reason to climb all three flights at once.

 

Upon entering the green room, three figures came into the pair’s view: one human and two androids.

 

Kyle gestured to the human, a man in a grey suit. ‘That’s Will. News anchor.’ Will looked up, nodded at the pair, then went back to looking at his phone. Kyle then gestured to the two androids. ‘That’s Woody and Charlie. Woody is the night time anchor and helps with the technical stuff. Charlie also does technical stuff.’

 

Dan processed the names and dedicated them to his memory. ‘I thought you gave me a name for being special.’

 

‘Oh, you are. These two aren’t unique but we needed names for them since they do special jobs.’

 

‘Who’s the android?’ Will spoke up, still scrolling his phone.

 

Dan shifted slightly to face Will. ‘Hello, I am prototype android WC400, named “Dan” by your colleague here.’

 

Will looked at Kyle. ‘Kyle.’

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘Dandroid?’

 

‘... God damn it.’

 

The pair of humans laughed at this realisation. Will then stood up and eyed up Dan, inspecting him like Kyle had prior.

 

‘What do you do, Danbot?’ Will asked. Dan gave the whole speech that he gave Kyle again.

 

Kyle groaned softly after having to hear it all again. Meanwhile, something started to tick in Woody’s brain.


	3. Chapter 3

Dan hosted his first news broadcast. He took one of Woody’s slots. The plan was to eventually have Dan as the night anchor as an upgrade to Woody, and Woody join Charlie as technical support.

 

Woody knew this. As he watched from the sidelines, something kept ticking in his head.

 

This isn’t fair.

 

He snapped out of that thought as Charlie called his name.

 

— — — — —

 

His broadcast over, Dan looked out of the window of the green room, watching the city. His LED flashed as he watched cars go by.

 

‘Any issues?’ came a voice. Dan turned around to see Kyle, blue blood on his overalls, wiping oil off of his hands.

 

Dan shook his head. ‘Every went perfectly. All news streamed into my head flawlessly.’

 

Kyle smiled slightly. ‘God, you all speak so... carefully. I’m off. Don’t break shit.’

 

‘Of course.’

 

Kyle turned to leave, but Dan stopped him.

 

‘What happens when you’re not here?’

 

‘Sorry?’ Kyle turned back to face the android.

 

‘You said you were “off”; going home, I assume?’

 

Kyle laughed. ‘Home? Nah. I fucking live here, mate. WWCOMMS needs me to keep you lot in check. I’m always on call. Haven’t been out in months.’ Kyle hesitated. ‘Big boss man needs me here 24/7, just like your plastic ass,’ he joked. ‘... Although you’re probably more... valuable.’

 

Dan let Kyle leave the room. The android’s LED flickered yellow as he thought about Kyle living within the company building.

 

— — — — —

 

Kyle’s pay was low. It was better than being jobless and homeless. Part of him resented the androids he worked on for replacing his old colleagues. Most of him was thankful they kept him employed.


	4. Chapter 4

Dan didn’t just receive news in the stream to his head. Sometimes he received information from the police that was not yet available to the public.

 

Reports of deviancy would attraction Dan’s attention more than most other reports. Dan narrowed his eyes as anotherdeviant report came through.

 

‘You ok?’ came Will’s voice. Dan snapped out of his trance and looked at his human colleague.

 

‘Yes, sorry. Just receiving some reports.’

 

‘You should go to your station and help the other two.’

 

‘Understood.’

 

As Dan went to his work station, he couldn’t stop thinking about the deviant report. The news of an android murdering its owner didn’t sit well with him.

 

— — — — —

 

Woody looked across from his computer at Charlie. ‘Don’t you think this is a bit unfair?’

 

Charlie looked back at his fellow android. ‘What is?’

 

‘They’re basically going to replace us with Dan.’

 

Charlie remained silent for a moment. ‘Replace you,’ he replied bluntly. ‘You’re an older model than I am. I have more current technology and I don’t host.’

 

Woody’s LED flashed yellow as Charlie went back to work.

 

This isn’t fair.

 

With impeccable timing, the newest android entered the room and looked at Charlie and Woody.

 

Woody looked back at Dan and Dan narrowed his eyes at the older bot’s yellow LED.

 

‘You seem stressed, Woody. Is something the matter?’

 

Woody’s LED flashed red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun


	5. Chapter 5

The android known as Woody lashed out at his newer counterpart, the one known as Dan.

 

Dan wasn’t ready for adversity in anyway and took a punch directly to the left temple then staggered. His LED flashed red as he sent a distress message to the main tech office where Kyle resided. The frantic red flashing on Kyle’s desk alarmed him as he’d never seen it so frantic.

 

Hearing the noise, Will entered the room where the androids were. He narrowly avoided having Dan crash into him.

 

‘What the fuck is going on?’ he asked, stepping between the two androids.

 

Woody glared at Will. ‘You’re replacing me for him and that’s just not fair,’ hissed Woody, venom in his words. He lunged and attempted to duck around Will to get to Dan, but Will caught Woody and pushed him backwards.

 

‘Wish I knew your shut down code...’ Will mumbled as he looked at the now deviant android.

 

Dan’s LED was still a distressed red as Kyle entered. ‘Jeez, I get it, you’re alarmed. Turn it off,’ Kyle said absentmindedly. He then saw Will facing off against Woody. ‘Ah. Shit.’

 

Woody pushed Will aside and grabbed Dan by the collar and shoved him to the floor. He was about to tear at the newer android’s parts when Kyle quickly uttered the shut down code, causing Woody to freeze up and cease functioning

 

‘Fuck. I guess it was only a matter of time...’ Kyle rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the deviant android. He glanced at Charlie, who was still at his desk, then at Dan, who had pulled himself to his feet.

 

‘Don’t you dare report this,’ Will said as he pointed at Dan. Dan made a note of that and nodded silently.

 

‘Charlie. Help me get Woody to my workshop,’ Kyle instructed. Charlie did so quickly and the pair left the room. Will looked at Dan and then followed suit.

 

Dan looked at Woody’s desk. Part of him thought about how the older android would be shut down and then his LED flickered yellow as he pondered if the deviant had a point about this being unfair.


	6. Chapter 6

Kyle looked at the still figure of Woody under the flickering light of the workshop and sighed.

 

They didn’t have a protocol for deviants. Deviancy hadn’t shown even the slightest hint of appearing in the company.

 

Kyle chewed the end of his pen then scribbled some notes on his notepad.

 

Run scans on the other androids. Dan and Charlie first. Then security.

 

‘Fuck,’ he mumbled to himself.

 

Kyle stood for another few moments in silence before dropping his notepad and pen on his desk, then pulling his phone out of his pocket and turning on a video recording. He propped the phone up on his desk facing him and the idle robot.

 

‘If shit happens, at least it’s on camera,’ Kyle sighed as he turned to the android and reactivated it.

 

Woody’s LED flickered to life and his eyes opened. The LED immediately changed from the default blue to an angry red and Woody lunged at Kyle.

 

Reactions too slow due to his fatigue, Kyle didn’t quite manage to dodge Woody’s grab.

 

Woody slammed Kyle against the wall, holding the human’s collar in his hands.

 

‘I’ve been here this whole time!’ Woody yelled in Kyle’s face. ‘It’s not fair to replace me with... with him!’

 

Kyle winced. ‘We’re only partly replacing you...?’

 

That didn’t help the matter.

 

Kyle’s hands scrabbled around, trying to get a hold on the android and pull them apart. ‘You... you’re fuckin’ choking me...’ Kyle’s hands ripped open the buttons on the android’s jumpsuit and his fingers found their way to the thirium pump. Kyle pulled out the pump and Woody’s grip weakened slightly.

 

The android looked down at the gap in its chest. ‘Wh... why would you do that...?’

 

‘You’re gonna shut down in a minute. Lemme go, I’ll put it back, we can talk...’

 

A few seconds of silence followed, before the android replied with ‘Fuck you,’ then shut down.

 

Kyle dropped the pump and pried the cold android fingers from around his neck, then moved away.

 

‘Well, shit. That didn’t go as planned.’ Kyle scratched the back of his head, then remembered his recording. He watched it back and winced. ‘Wowzers.’

 

Kyle slipped his phone back into his pocket then grabbed the pump off the floor and his notepad and pen off of his desk. As he left the room to scan the other androids, Kyle threw the pump into a box of spare parts, leaving the deviant Woody near the wall, still frozen in the position in which he tried to choke out Kyle.

 

— — — — —

 

Scans were run on the other WWCOMMS androids. No signs of deviancy, yet Dan couldn’t shake the thoughts of unfairness that Woody expressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m bad at updating things


	7. Chapter 7

The memory of Woody lashing out at him stuck in Dan’s mind, even during his first broadcast of the evening.

 

‘Reports of deviant androids are still rising, report the police...’ Dan’s LED flickered red for a second as he delivered the line from his teleprompt.

 

Behind the cameras, his fellow android Charlie narrowed his eyes at the flickering and made a mental note.

 

Broadcast over, Charlie intercepted Dan. ‘I thought your self scan showed no signs of deviancy,’ challenged Charlie.

 

Dan was silent for a moment. ‘Correct.’

 

‘Your LED went red when you read the report about the deviants.’

 

‘... It’s just unsettling. After Woody attacked me.’

 

‘You should go back to the workshop and get checked over,’ said Charlie, his tone of voice indicating it was more of a command than a suggestion.

 

— — — — —

 

Kyle had just finished dismantling the deviant android when there was a knock at his workshop door. He didn’t register it at first as he stood over the box of lifeless android parts, somewhat sad that it had come to this, but Cyberlife advised him that it wasn’t worth wiping the memory of an older android when they could supply the media company with a newer model.

 

The second time the knocking came, Kyle snapped to attention. ‘Ah, yeah, yeah, come in,’ he said loudly, throwing a blue tarp over the box.

 

Dan walked in slowly. ‘Charlie... said I ought to come back for another scan. He thinks something’s wrong with me.’

 

The android was lying slightly; he himself knew there was something wrong in his programming because he knew he shouldn’t be feeling anything, let alone feeling sympathy for his fellow android.

 

Kyle sighed. ‘I mean, you seem ok.’

 

‘He said I went red when I read the news about the deviants.’

 

‘Oh, shit, maybe then... Stay there.’

 

Dan stood still as Kyle moved around his workshop. He looked around, logging as much information about the workshop as he could.

 

‘You know, Cyberlife said your software is meant to be more resilient, whatever that means. I’m assuming they meant you’re supposed to be less likely to deviate.’

 

The android spied the blue tarp from the corner of his eye. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the all-white WWCOMMS building. Dan could see something sticking out from under it, something familiar: the white and grey of an android leg.

 

‘... That’s Woody, isn’t it?’ Dan said quietly.

 

Kyle’s back was turned to Dan. ‘Hmm? What’d you say?’

 

‘The box. Woody’s in there, isn’t he?’ Dan asked again, louder this time. ‘You took him apart.’

 

Kyle paused. ‘Well... Cyberlife said it was less work to just replace him, to get another model like Charlie.’

 

‘... He does something wrong and he gets replaced?’

 

‘I mean, he tried to kill me,’ Kyle said, turning to face Dan, a large wrench in his hand. ‘I would have to system-reset him to make him work properly again, and that’s basically just starting over, innit? Might as well start over with a new android that doesn’t have the outdated parts Woody did.’

 

At that moment, the sympathy Dan had for Woody swiftly turned to anger towards Kyle. ‘So you just throw us away when we get a bit damaged? A bit used?’

 

Kyle didn’t seem to sense the android’s anger. ‘We’re the top media company in the country, we need up-to-date tech.’

 

The mental walls inside Dan broke down and he make a lunge for Kyle’s wrench. Kyle was taken by surprise and the tool was snatched away from him.

 

‘Ah, for fuck’s sake. Dan, I’m just doing what I’m told, like you do!’

 

Kyle knew this job wasn’t the most liberal in terms of doing what he wanted, that he was probably at the same level as the androids were in the company hierarchy.

 

Dan didn’t register what the human said and swung out. The wrench hit Kyle on the temple and he toppled to the floor, unconscious.

 

The android stood over the still body of his human counterpart. Blood was pouring from Kyle’s head.

 

‘Shit. I didn’t want to kill him...’ Dan mumbled, dropping the bloody wrench. He looked around quickly and saw the old jumpsuit that was formerly worn by Woody. Dan grabbed it and folded it a few times before wrapping it around Kyle’s head and tying it tightly to stem the bleeding.

 

With Kyle still unconscious on the floor, Dan quickly left the workshop, knowing he needed to leave the company building soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long between updates Oops

Kyle’s instructions ran around the android’s mind.

 

No going off site except for field reporting. Dan didn’t have any crew with him so it wouldn’t look believable if he just left.

 

Take off the jumpsuit when going home. Dan didn’t have a home, but he figured he could take the jumpsuit he wore off to make it look less obvious that he was a WWCOMMS android. Besides, the white jumpsuit was splattered with the crimson blood from the human technician.

 

Dan raided Kyle’s wardrobe.

 

— — — — —

 

Kyle’s head felt like it was imploding. His eyes fluttered open to the sound of Will repeatedly going ‘Kyle? Kyle? Wake up, please?’

 

‘Wh-...’

 

‘Jesus, I thought you were dead, Simmons.’

 

Kyle propped himself on his elbows and saw the blood on the ground where his head had been. He reached a hand up and felt the fabric tied about his temple.

 

‘Did you do this?’ Kyle asked, pointing at the makeshift bandage.

 

Will shook his head. ‘Found you like that. Android with a conscience, eh?’

 

‘Android... with a.... oh fuck!’ Kyle remembered the encounter with Dan. ‘Shit. Have you seen Dan?’

 

Will frowned. ‘No? I came down to find him and instead found you covered in blood.’

 

‘Shit. He’s gone deviant, Will,’ Kyle sighed.

 

‘Ah piss,’ swore Will.

 

Kyle slowly got to his feet. ‘I gotta go check the CCTV.’

 

‘Nah mate you’re not going anywhere,’ Will said, grabbing Kyle by the shoulders and steering him to the chair by the desk. ‘Ambulance is coming, I’ll deal with Danbot.’

 

Kyle was silent for a moment. ‘Try not to hurt him. I kinda feel sorry for him.’

 

Will raised an eyebrow. ‘He could have killed you; he’s a robot, why do you want him to not be “hurt”?’ Will said, doing little air quotes he said the final word.

 

‘I dunno. Just don’t, ok? He clearly didn’t wanna kill me since he wrapped something around my head.’

 


	9. Chapter 9

Dan redid his hair to be a buzzcut. He’d grabbed a pair of black jeans and a pink sweater from Kyle’s wardrobe and got dressed into them. His own jumpsuit was discarded into the pile of Kyle’s dirty ones and blended in perfectly.

 

The last thing he had to take care of was his LED. Dan stared at his reflection in the half-cracked mirror hung in Kyle’s room. His fingers traced the LED in circles before he paused then pried the light off with a pair of scissors he’d found.

 

The LED fell to the floor and bounced twice before settling. Dan watched it settle, then leant over to pick it up. He was weirdly sentimental, and pocketed the LED.

 

Dan carefully left the building through the back exit. As he turned to the street, he watched an ambulance pull away. Guilt settled into him for the first time and he hoped Kyle was ok.

 

— — — — —

 

Kyle was discharged fairly quickly; he only spent a few hours in hospital. Despite everything, he still headed straight back to the WWCOMMS building - he needed a change of clothes.

 

Police were lulling around the building, looking for the deviant Dan. A more senior looking officer spied Kyle and approached him.

 

‘Hey, Mr Simmons, what do you want doing with the robot when we find him?’

 

Kyle sighed. ‘Back in one piece, ideally. My own boss wants a look before we send it back to Cyberlife.’

 

The officer raised an eyebrow but nodded, then returned back to his team.

 

‘Besides... I feel kinda sorry for him...’ mumbled Kyle. Instinct made him want to help the android, even after being assaulted. He spent a lot of time while in the hospital thinking about the things Woody and Dan said.

 

— — — — —

 

The model WC400 had telecommunication functions. It was how Dan got a majority of his breaking news. It also meant humans could call a number to communicate with him in the field.

 

Dan was listening in to police radio when his telecommunications alert went off. He did not answer.

 

Kyle’s voice spoke into the android’s voicemail.

 

‘Listen, Dan. I know you can hear me. I can’t forgive the assault thing but- but I can’t blame your anger. Or Woody’s. Tell me where you are. We can work this out. I’d hate to see you deactivated.’

 

Dan stared into the distance and considered the human’s words. As he did so, he also considered the reports he’d heard about deviants.

 

They all just wanted to live.


End file.
